


Cthulhu and the Crystal Gems

by The_Fanfic_Mormon



Category: Cthulhu Mythos - H. P. Lovecraft, Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: AU-Lovecraft, Big battle, Cthulhu Mythos, Cult of Cthulhu, Gen, I'm Bad At Tagging, Lovecraftian Monster(s), Some Angst (maybe?), Sorry about the shitty tags, indescribable evil, semi-happy ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-02
Updated: 2018-09-02
Packaged: 2019-07-05 18:50:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15869616
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Fanfic_Mormon/pseuds/The_Fanfic_Mormon
Summary: Steven and Amethyst stumble across a strange idol. Things quickly go downhill from there.Alternatively called "I can't think of a good title right now, sorry about that."





	Cthulhu and the Crystal Gems

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, so I had this idea suddenly, and really wanted to write this. I promise I'll update War of Roses soon, but I really like these two things so I mashed 'em together and saw what happened. It's quite long, but I'm ambivalent about the final product so judge for yourself. Comments and kudos are appreciated.

It wasn’t supposed to be an adventurous day. Steven was worn out from a series of missions, and just wanted some time to relax, to bathe in the peaceful ambiance that the beach and the hill seemed to exude. Amethyst, for reasons lost to anyone but herself, had decided to accompany him. The two walked around the hill, with a constant stream of wisecracks coming from the purple warrior, interrupted every so often by a snicker from the boy. 

A fog had settled on the beach, thick and soupy. This had surprised Steven, considering that just an hour prior, there had been nary a cloud in the sky. But the weather couldn’t stop the two coolest Crystal Gems (at least according to them) from taking a calm stroll. They’d gotten to a point where visibility was reduced to only about a foot, and Steven made a quick motion to stop for a moment. 

“Uhhh Amethyst? Don’t you think we should turn around? We can barely see…” he said, worry beginning to eat at him.

“Dude, chill out!” she advised, flashing him a sudden grin. “It’s only fog. Not like there are any…I dunno…monsters about!” With that, she suddenly transformed into a sort of dragon, giving off a howl that made Steven flinch. He stumbled backwards before falling hard on his rear, yelping in pain as he thudded into the sand. Amethyst reverted back to her normal form and was immediately doubled over in laughter, slapping her knee with joy at the prank she just pulled. But Steven hardly noticed the prankster’s exuberance, instead staring at the ground under his butt with a puzzled expression. After a few possibly exaggerated wheezes, Amethyst calmed down and saw Steven on his knees, brushing sand off the spot on which he had just fallen. Walking over with a raised eyebrow, she squatted down to see what the boy was doing. 

“Hey Ste-man, watcha digging for?” she inquired. Steven took a second to respond, and when he looked up, it was as if there were stars in his eyes.

“Oh my gosh! I found a secret trapdoor!” the young Gem squealed, a smile sprouting on his face. Amethyst looked down at where he had been digging, and sure enough, a brown wooden hatch was there. It looked ancient, with the door itself rotting and weathered, while the metal hatch had been corroded into a wiry loop, both presumably by unknown years of wear. Although the decay consumed any decoration it might have previously displayed, Amethyst could make out that something had carved into one of the corners. A sudden gust of wind picked up, although she noted that for some reason that the mist hadn’t been disturbed in the least. Unease began to build in her, and Steven had shivered at the breeze, but he was noticeably excited, and she attempted to brush off the concern with a loud “whoa.”  
Steven got up, his previous worries forgotten. He grabbed the withered handle, and pulled. Amethyst jumped a little as the door jolted up, expecting something to come out, although she wasn’t sure what. Nothing happened. 

“Awwww…it’s locked.” Steven sighed. He gave another half-hearted tug as his grin drooped into a frown. Seeing this, Amethyst had an idea.

“That’s not a big deal, dude. I COULD just rip it off for you.”

Steven’s smile leaped back on to his face, and he nodded, too ecstatic to speak. Amethyst grinned back, and grabbed the sides of the door. As she began to pull, the usually facetious Gem paused for a moment. Reservations bubbled to the surface of her mind, and yet she couldn’t pin down what about this situation made her uncomfortable. It was a primal fear, a sense of revulsion that made her want to run back to the temple as fast as she could. 

But she tugged anyway, pulling the door off of its hinges with a sudden crack. The wind that had mysteriously picked up died down just as quickly. Dropping the door to the side, she went up to the edge and peered down into the pit. Nothingness. That’s all she could see, just inky blackness with no bottom in sight. Steven took out his phone and turned on its flashlight, yet still the dark refused to reveal anything. Steven, for whatever reason, didn’t share her misgivings about the situation, and proceeded to jump down, slowly floating into the hole. 

“Steven, wait! This-I…there’s something wrong here!” she yelled, hoping for a response. 

After hearing no response for several seconds, she unhesitatingly leaped down it after him. As she fell, Amethyst realized that the hole had turned into a slope, slowly losing its vertical drop in favor of a gradual incline. As she slid down the sandy tube, her thoughts dwelt on the odd wind and the ever-pervasive sense of anxiety that seemed to accompany this adventure. 

Finally, she stopped descending as the ascent flattened. Still immersed in darkness, her gem began to glow, filling the tight space with violet light. With visibility somewhat established, she noticed that the tunnel only extended about ten more feet before stopping suddenly. There was a metal chest, striped in a green mineral, but most importantly, Steven was nowhere to be found. Panic began to build in her. She was about to summon her whip when the missing boy suddenly sprang up from behind the chest.

“SHI-Steven!” Amethyst shrieked, quickly censoring herself in front of him. 

Steven smirked confidently before breaking into a fit of giggles. “I got you!”

“Come on, man. We’re in a creepy tunnel, you can’t scare me like that!” she said, trying to pull a straight face as a few chuckles escaped her. “But yeah, you got me. Anyway, what's this weird box doing in here?” 

Steven scratched his head, obviously running that same question through his head.

“I don’t know, but it looks old. Maybe it’s an artifact or treasure or something like that!” Before she could stop him, Steven whipped around and shoved open the chest. A loud creak that sounded like a dying bird accompanied the boy’s action, filling them both with a sense of foreboding. Steven hesitantly reached into the chest, pulling out its sole inhabitant. It was a package, bundled in brown paper and held together with a thin crimson rope. 

A piece of paper with neat writing had been shoved underneath a knot, where it’d yellowed considerably. Amethyst sighed loudly, relaxing as the tension dissipated somewhat. “Before you open that, let’s bring it to Garnet and Pearl.” She paused, looking up the incline. “I didn’t know we had a secret tunnel! That’s pretty awesome.” 

“Yeah!” Steven exclaimed. “But…who would put this all the way down here? What would be so important to hide it in hole like this?”

Amethyst frowned, pondering potential answers as she began to walk towards the ramp they’d slid down. As she took a step, a sickening crunch came from under her feet. She stumbled back to find a large crack in the half-buried human skull. Steven screamed loudly as a pocket of wetness began to appear on his shorts-

* * *

“Hey, I didn’t wet myself!” Steven protested, throwing off the story’s momentum with his complaint. 

“Ok, so I may have taken a few liberties with the story.” Amethyst chortled back. 

Pearl let out a groan while Garnet just stood stoically as ever. It’d been a few minutes since Amethyst and Steven had come barreling in with their mystery package, obviously excited to show it to them. Pearl had managed to get the story, interruptions notwithstanding. 

“Anyway, Steven floated us out of there and then we ran here to tell you guys.” Amethyst said, finishing her tale. 

Pearl picked the package up from the counter, staring inquisitively at it. “We never authorized ANY digging on the beach around the temple! T-this thing is completely unknown to us.” Pearl said, the confusion in her voice clear. She thought about the tunnel they’d described. Only a professional would’ve been able to create it, and yet they would’ve heard any machinery. To do that with a shovel was impossible! 

Her eyes turned to the second unfortunate souvenir, a cracked human skull. Someone had died down there, somehow. Did someone get trapped on purpose? It made sense, seeing as Steven said the door had been locked. It was unthinkable to the lithe Gem that someone could’ve been murdered right next to the temple. And yet that seemed to be the most probable answer. She looked over at Garnet, who was examining the third thing the duo had brought back, the trapdoor itself. Garnet must have seen her looking, because she nodded at her, indicating she'd come to the same conclusion about the grisly fate of this unknown person. 

“Pearl! Open it!” Steven’s request snapped her out of her thoughts. Pearl took a breath, not needing to but finding the action calming. 

“I was just getting to that, Steven. Now, we’re going to be very careful. Who knows what this could be and why it was hidden?” she responded, before untying the knot that held the package together. She noticed that a note had been under it, and set it aside for the moment. She began to remove the layers that surrounded the object. When there were just two left, she paused, feeling more perturbed with each passing moment. She looked at Garnet again and uneasily asked her, “Could you, uh, use your future vision? I don’t…just to be sure."

Garnet didn’t react, and Pearl knew that she was scanning future timelines, looking for the remote possibility of danger. What she never expected was for the normally impassive warrior to start to cry, fat tears rolling down from behind her visor.

“Garnet?” Steven asked, obviously concerned. “Are you…are you OK?” 

The fusion slowly wiped her tears away. “I-I don’t kno-know.” she stuttered. “My future vision can’t see anything but…but pain. All I can see is pain.” 

The house went silent, no one quite sure of how to respond. “But you should still open the package.” Garnet’s voice became less shaky, and she slowly regained her composure. “We should know what's been buried in our backyard.” She nodded at Pearl to continue. The pale Gem, hesitation etched on her face, plucked the last two layers off of the object, and a gasp could be heard from everyone but Steven, who looked like he was caught between confusion and shock. 

It was a statue, small and mottled green, of some sort of monster. It was seemingly anthropoid in nature, with its clawed hands resting on knees, with similarly clawed feet. It had large wings similar to those of a bat, and a humanoid head with a series of tentacles sprouting from its face. The thing was squatting on a pedestal, which itself had carvings that had been worn to the point where they could no longer be read or identified. It exuded a sense of wrongness, as if the sculpture’s very existence was an insult to nature. 

Steven looked the thing up and down before asking “What’s the matter guys? Do you know what this is?” 

He had asked this because of the reactions of his guardians. Pearl’s eyes were wide, and her hand was clutching her mouth in horror. Amethyst looked like she was going to cry, her face contorted into a look of pain. Garnet’s visor had fallen off of her face, but she hadn’t noticed as all three of her eyes stared with disgust at the effigy, scowling all the while. Steven had to repeat his question in order to break the Gems out of whatever memory had consumed them. 

Garnet slowly picked up her visor, her other hand clenched in a fist. “Steven…this statue is from a mission we went on nearly a century ago with your mother.” She put her visor on, than continued. “It was memorable for its…disturbing nature, but I feel you are mature enough to know.” 

Steven looked at Pearl, who’d traditionally be the one butting in at this point to protest against any knowledge that might be too heavy for the young Gem. Pearl, however, was mutely sitting on a stool, staring at the counter as her hands fidgeted aimlessly. 

“Steven,” Garnet said, sitting down on the warp pad, “I’m going to tell you a story…”

* * *

It was hot as hell, even at night. Inspector Legrasse had said so multiple times, although his twenty-three companions made an effort to ignore the heat. Four of them did it with ease, seeing as they couldn’t feel temperature in the traditional sense. Unfortunately for the rest, they weren’t gem-based aliens. 

Rose Quartz and the Crystal Gems had been in the area, looking to help any souls in need. Then they stumbled across a mutilated corpse that had been sloppily concealed in an alleyway, and immediately brought it to the local authorities. Normally, Legrasse would dismiss any women who tried to do his job, but something had told him not to pick a fight with these particular ladies. So he’d gathered the rest of the men and set out with the Gems into the swampland. 

The sun had long since sunk below the horizon, and now the men followed Pearl, her gemstone lighting the way. The beam of light was projected in such a way that each shadow a tree or a piece of brush cast looked a little more ominous, although the knowledge of what they might be walking into exacerbated this greatly. After walking in silence for hours, Rose turned to Legrasse and asked him a question.

“Inspector, is it? How do you know that the killer will be in this swap?” Her voice was clam and soft, and made Legrasse wish he was at home hugging his wife. 

“Well ma’am, we’ve been getting rumors for several years from the squatters who live on the edge of this here swamp. Voodoo rituals, human sacrifice, the whole crazy lot. But the body you so graciously provided gives us some incentive to check these rumors out.” He paused in his explanation, squinting at what seemed to be a red glow in the distance. 

“Fire,” Rose whispered, “to make these sacrifices?” 

“That’s a possibility, but more likely based on the stiff that these sacrifices are probably more of a knife-to-the-throat variety, if you get what I’m saying.” 

Rose nodded curtly, and drew her sword, the pink blade held at the ready. Legrasse swallowed hard, then drew his pistol, checking that it was loaded. The other men did the same, while the Gems summoned their weapons. A steady beat could be heard, growing louder and more crazed as they advanced towards the source of the red glow. Cries of madness, shrill and beast-like, reverberated off the trees, enhancing their terrifying nature. Finally, a clearing came into sight, and Rose pushed back the brush to reveal a ritual of an unimaginable nature. 

A mass of people stood dancing and screaming in a circle, minds lost in their guttural, demonic utterings. In the center, an idol had been placed on a tall pedestal, with a sizeable flame roaring around it. Slings positioned around the fire displayed the mangled bodies of several squatters and townsfolk who had gone missing over the past year, dark red streams running off the corpses and pooling in the dirt. A large man, although many doubted if that word applied here, was howling, covered only in a loincloth like his followers. His arms were raised, and they seemed to move with a mind of their own in a macabre diplay. A hellish chant began to rise from the flailing mob, seemingly gibberish.

“ _Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn! _”__

Several policemen proceeded to vomit immediately upon seeing this chthonic procedure, while others grew lightheaded and several fainted. After rousing the men who’d fallen, Garnet leaped high into the air, only to slam down next to the fire with such force that the ground exploded beneath her, incapacitating many cultists.

The police, shaken from their disturbed trance, began to fire their weapons, loud cracks that interrupted the sinister chant. The other Gems leaped into battle, using their weapons to knock out worshippers left and right. By the time the chaos had died down, nearly sixty were in handcuffs, while about a dozen lay dead. The rest had fled into the swap, willing to test their fates in the harsh wilderness rather than facing capture. The idol was also taken. 

Back at the station, Garnet and Amethyst took the responsibility of interrogating the prisoners. After several tries, they found an especially talkative one, who identified himself as Castro. Rose walked into the cell, Legrasse and Pearl following closely behind. Castro was a bronze-skinned man, with a haggard, malnourished look. He was sitting calmly, handcuffed to a table, yet his eyes darted around the room with a wild energy, finally settling on the eight-foot tall extraterrestrial in front of him. 

“So you broads want ta know ‘bout the Great Old Ones, dontcha?” the crazed cultist remarked, a disturbing smile revealing a row of bent yellow teeth. 

“I’d like that, yes.”

So he did. He spun a tale of horrible deities, older then mankind, descending from the sky. Great beings made of matter not like any known in the universe. They had ruled the planet for eons, inhabiting great cities full of perverted geometries and cyclopean stone buildings, the greatest being the aquatic R’lyeh. As humans had come into being, the Old Ones had reached out with their minds, commanding them in the formative years of mankind’s existence. Shaping, molding groups of them into worshippers. This was reduced to a whispering as R’lyeh had sunk beneath the ocean. The Old Ones had died, and yet could never truly die. Their minds stayed active while their bodies decayed, reaching into the flesh of mammels, twisting them to their devious wills. They stayed trapped by their own infernal magic, waiting for the stars and the planets to be right. When they were, the various cults would use sorcery passed down since the dawn of man to allow the dark priest Cthulhu to rise from his sunken city, to resume his rule of this planet. All the artificial institutions of man would fall, all laws and morality would die. A new age of hellfire, madness, and destruction would reign across the world and humanity would either perish, or live on as thralls to the great Cthulhu. 

Rose took all of this in with remarkable calmness. Legrasse had a face as if he was trying to solve a particularly difficult math problem, and the other Gems just looked mildly amused, obviously thinking it the ravings of a madman.

Rose turned to the Inspector, a mysteriously dark look settling in her eyes. “I-I need to take the idol you confiscated.” 

There was no room for an argument. It was a demand that whether he agreed to it or not, Legrasse knew that they’d end up leaving up with it anyway. So he nodded silently, not sure of what to say or even think. 

“Rose, please! It's ridiculous,” Pearl protested from the corner, “that you're listening to the prattling of a human who obviously has several mental deficiencies!” 

“Yeah, come on! This human is crazy!” Amethyst shouted with glee, hanging from the ceiling by her whip. “Can we keep him? He’s hilarious.” 

Garnet seemed like she was about to continue the mocking, when suddenly she faltered. “I…I agree with Rose. This information wi-will be vital to us somehow in the f-future. I don’t-I can’t see how,” the seer stuttered, very uncomfortable with whatever revelation had just come to her, “but it’s important.”

Pearl and Amethyst gave her a surprised look, but didn’t voice any further grievances. As they walked out of the station, statue in hand. Pearl heard Rose mutter a phrase under her breath repeatedly, a sort of rhyme that didn’t really make any sense.

“That is not dead which can eternal lie,  
And with strange aeons even death may die.”

_____ _

“Rose, are you alright? Why are you taking this so seriously?” Pearl piped up, voicing her consternation. 

Rose stopped, thinking for a minute before launching into an explanation.

“About one thousand one hundred years ago, I came across a tome known as Kitab al Azif. Informally, it was called the Necronomicon. It was written in the 800’s by the Arabian scholar Abdullah al-Ḥaẓrad, who would later be known as the Mad Arab.”

The other Gems looked stupefied at the mention of the Mad Arab. It had been a name brought up by the various maniacs they’d come across over the centuries, synonymous with the most brutal and deranged acts that a human could possibly do. In fact, one of the injured cultists had been muttering something about him.

“I only just put it together,” Rose continued, “that al-Ḥaẓrad was the same Mad Arab that we’ve heard so much about. His book talks of that being, Cthulhu, rising from R’lyeh and raining destruction upon the Earth.”

“Then we need to immediately find this place and stop this so-called Old God from surfacing!” Pearl exclaimed, Garnet and Amethyst nodding in agreement.

“We must hurry though, as I foresee that we have a small window of time to stop this catastrophe” Garnet said, a sinister undertone to her statement, “and I doubt he’ll wait for us."

* * *

“And?"

“And what, Steven?"

“Did you guys fight Ctuh- Catho- Cthulhu?”

“We’ll save that story for another day.” Garnet replied, obviously not willing to discuss what happened. Steven looked over at Pearl, who was reading the note that’d come with the package. She glanced up at them, took a deep breath, and then began to read the letter out loud.

___To whomever finds this,_  
_Know that you have discovered an evil more profound than any on heaven or Earth. I beg of you, do not let him enslave your mind, for you will bring untold amounts of suffering upon this world._  
_In his house at R’lyeh dead Cthulhu waits dreaming. _  
_-F. Thurston_ __

_____ _

__

___“Hm. This ‘Thurston’ may have known something about Cthulhu and how to stop him. I’m going to take this note and investigate a possible lead.” Garnet said, future vision revealing something only known to her._ _ _

___“How is there a lead if you haven’t started investigating?” Steven asked innocently._ _ _

___“I’m just that good.” she remarked, calm as ever, adjusting her visor casually before turning to leave._ _ _

___“This statue…it’s identical to the one we confiscated from the cultists.” Pearl noted while watching Garnet speed of into the distance. “It’s no coincidence that you found this when you did. Nothing’s ever a coincidence when it comes to the Old Ones…”_ _ _

___“We should take it to the lovebirds at the barn!” suggested Amethyst. “Peri would be able to analyze it! Maybe she’ll find a clue to where R’lyeh is now.”_ _ _

___“What? But you guys went there before! How did you forget where it was?” Steven questioned, quite confused. “Nah dude. R’lyeh moves every time it sinks. We don’t know why, but it just does.” the purple Gem casually responded._ _ _

___“That’s…actually a decent proposal,” Pearl said, surprised at the jokester’s suggestion, “so to the barn we go.”_ _ _

* * *

___Peridot, as it turns out, was occupied with other activities. As Steven, Pearl, and Amethyst walked towards the barn, they could see that the technician and her cohabitant were furiously kissing each other on the ground in front of their home. Pearl sighed, messaging her temples before clearing her throat with dramatic force. This was enough to disengage the two Gems, Lapis lunging off her quickly as blushes threatened to consume their faces. Amethyst began to giggle obnoxiously._ _ _

___“O-oh-well…Hello friends!” Peridot yelled, fixing her crumpled outfit. “I see you've come across Lapis and myself preforming the Earth ritual that demonstrates affection known as ‘kissing.’ Please, forget you ever saw that!” A note of desperation accompanied her last sentence, one that only increased as Amethyst’s laughter grew louder._ _ _

___Steven went and gave the awkward couple a hug, face red all the while. “Um…hey Steven.” Lapis said slowly, still obviously embarrassed. Turning to see the other two Crystal Gems, her small smile flattened out. “So why are you guys here?”_ _ _

___Pearl, an exasperated look in her eyes, held up the sculpture. “I need Peridot to analyze this relic. It’s of upmost importance.”_ _ _

___She’d barely finished her sentence when Peridot lunged up, grabbing it out of her hand. “Fascinating!” she exclaimed. “Images like this were common in the Jade Archives concerning artifacts of this planet. It confused them, seeing as the hopelessly primitive humans couldn’t have possibly carved anything of THIS quality!” She began to run towards the barn, an idea forming in her mind._ _ _

___The others followed, uncertain of what the excitable Gem would come up with. After an hour of watching her tinker with the variety of junk lying around the barn, Lapis stepped out, a very bored look on her face. “Presenting, the fruits of Peridot’s genius!” she said, voice dripping with sarcasm. A machine that looked like a cellphone, a brass band, and a steampunk vehicle had been mashed together floated out, constantly wobbling, followed by Peridot._ _ _

___“I’ve created a device that will provide us with all the information you could ever need on this statue!” With that, she awkwardly set it down before shoving the statue into what looked like a tuba and pressing several buttons. A loud whirring filled the air, then the machine began to shudder furiously, smoke pouring out of every aperture. After about seven noisy minutes where Pearl had half a mind to destroy the machine for the safety of everyone involved, the contraption quieted down, and Peridot looked at the results displayed on the small screen._ _ _

___“This object seems to be composed of ijolite, specifically of the variety found on area of this planet you call Finland.” the technician remarked. She squinted through her visor, muttering to herself as she read the next paragraph. “For some reason, this CLOD of a machine seems to be picking up energy readings that should only be detectable from supernovas! And apparently, these readings are appearing in the area where the stone originated. Damn this primitive technology!”_ _ _

___Peridot grew frustrated, lifting her fist to hit the machine, when the warp pad began to activate behind her. Everyone turned around to see Garnet appear, looking disheveled and beaten. Her hair was singed, costume ripped, and her visor had several large cracks running across it. She was panting loudly, and had obviously just come from an intense battle. They all gasped, shocked to see the toughest among them looking so beaten._ _ _

___Steven began to run towards her. “Oh my god! Garnet, are you-"_ _ _

___“There’s no time!” the leader of the Crystal Gems yelled. “Lapis, you need to fly us to this location!” She held a tattered map in her gauntlets, a messy circle near the upper right._ _ _

___Lapis seemed like she was going to protest, but seeing the resolute face of the fusion convinced her otherwise. Giving a quick nod, she raised a hand, and the water in the mini-lake next to her mimicked it. With one fell swoop, she picked up the whole group with the watery appendage. She disconnected the hand from the rest of the body of water, then summoned her wings and shot off into the air, the liquid fist following closely behind._ _ _

___After an hour and a half of silent soaring through the grey clouds that covered the sky, a small landmass came into view. As the Gems flew closer, the details of a horrific metropolis began to reveal themselves._ _ _

___Nightmarish buildings, made in such a way that their very existence inspired fear, filled the city. Monstrous cathedrals, angles and dimensions not natural to this universe, insanity-inducing spirals, all of it twisting and contorting in a gross distortion of architecture. It was enough to make a man lose his mind trying to take it all in, and it was clear that it was effecting everyone._ _ _

___Garnet was struggling to stay fused as the deformed city threatened to overpower the love holding her together, not helped by her exhaustion from whatever fight she’d been in previously. Pearl and Amethyst started to cry, although neither were sure why. Peridot had begun twisting her hair to the point where it looked painful, while Lapis could barely stay airborne. As for Steven, he had the worst headache of his life, a pulsating pain that felt like someone was trying split his skull open. “R’lyeh” he whispered, finally understanding the Gem’s previous hesitation._ _ _

___“Fusions are unstable here.” Garnet said, her voice dissonant as her parts strained to resist separation. “We cannot effectively form Alexandrite, who would be best be suited to combat a threat of this sca-”_ _ _

___She stopped to let out a yell of distress as her body, glowing pink, nearly bisected before coming back together. Pearl tried to help her, but couldn’t as her heavy tears clouded her vision. With much difficulty, Lapis managed to get the group over to a titanic staircase, suddenly dropping them on the top step as her concentration strained and then gave out._ _ _

___Standing in front of them was a massive circular door, Cthulhu’s cephalopod-esque visage carved on to it. “Amethyst, Pearl, open it. We-I can’t…I need to concentrate.” The two nodded, determined despite their weeping. While the others watched in fascination, attempting to negate the effects of the demented urban landscape, Pearl and Amethyst leaped into the air. As they fell, they summoned their weapons, using them to press in various stones that jutted out along the door._ _ _

___A few seconds later, the door rumbled, than began to fall inwards. “Brace yourselves!” Lapis shouted, pushing everyone back. It slammed to the ground, sending tremors through the whole city. There was silence for a minute, as Peridot slowly advanced towards the opening as the others stood frozen in fear. Her green form trembling fiercely, she was driven by pure scientific curiosity, an intense desire to know what in the name of Homeworld was going on. The darkness within the chamber hadn’t receded upon being exposed to light, but lingered unnaturally. As she set out a foot inside the arcane space, Peridot could swear that she could hear something. A forceful damp slapping noise confirmed this, and she quickly backpedaled to the terrified group._ _ _

___“There’s something in there! Run, GO!” she yelled as she ran into them. But no one moved a muscle, not until a harrowing, unearthly shriek echoed out, shaking them out of their paralysis._ _ _

___“This is it.” Garnet managed to get out, gritting her teeth. “Lapis, you need to help us hold that thing back at all cost!”_ _ _

___The Ocean Gem adopted a determined face, a marked change from her state a few minutes ago. She’d weathered unbelievable trauma, and this was one more battle she was adamant about winning. The others attempted to compose themselves, summoning their weapons as the wet thuds and nightmarish calls got louder and louder. Suddenly, a green mass burst from the chamber, gargantuan, sickly green, and slimy._ _ _

___Steven dropped his shield to the ground, taking in the eldritch being that stood before him. Cthulhu looked exactly like his statues, tentacles, wings, and all. And yet to see this affront to the natural order in person made Steven wish he was blind. The creature radiated with malignant energy, and as it turned its cold eyes on the figures at its feet, Steven felt as if the great void of the universe itself was looking at him. As he quickly ducked down to pick up his shield, he heard it roar in frustration and looked up to see a fist made of murky water slam it in the face._ _ _

___Cthulhu barely reacted to it, seemingly annoyed at the gnats who would dare sting him. Garnet enlarged her gauntlets, then fired them at the tentacled horror, while Pearl and Amethyst used the temple to get on to its eyes. Cthulhu screamed again, full of fierce anger as his tentacles grabbed Amethyst and flung her into a building. Steven managed run to where she’d exploded through the stone wall, slapping some healing spit on her cracked gem with a nervous energy._ _ _

___Intense bursts of water blasted the creature back a little, while it focused on removing Pearl with its mass of feelers. The lithe gem danced around elegantly, slicing left and right with a reckless abandon that contrasted with her graceful dodging. “Move!” Garnet yelled, saving a hiding Peridot from being crushed underfoot. She took a quick detour to catch Lapis, who’d been knocked from the sky with one swat from its gigantic claw._ _ _

___Moments later, Cthulhu managed to fling Pearl into the distance, turning his attention to Garnet and the remaining Gems. Lapis was nearly poofed, her form sustaining an incredible amount of damage. Amethyst lunged at it, only to get caught in its hand. Cthulhu brought his fingers together, and moments later her purple gem slipped out of his grasp only to be caught be Steven. Peridot was nowhere to be found, and Garnet was carrying Lapis in one arm and Steven in the other._ _ _

___She was focused on retreating, dodging the Old One but never managing to escape from its vicinity. With a surprisingly quick movement, a longer tentacle shot out, plucking the fusion out of the air as she attempted to leap to another platform. The slimy appendage gripped her tightly, snaking its way up to Lapis and Steven as it began to squeeze. Cthulhu let out a triumphant roar, bringing his captives up to meet soulless eyes._ _ _

___“I’m sorry Steven…” Garnet said, tears beginning to well. They’d failed. This was the planet that they’d made a stand on, fought a thousand year war for, and all they’d done was postpone Earth’s destruction by a few millennia. She could feel Ruby and Sapphire hugging each other, determined to at least be shattered in each other’s arms._ _ _

___She closed her eyes, then opened all three in surprise as she heard Steven gasp, obviously still alive. She swiveled her head to see a large spike running through Cthulhu’s face. The creature cried out in pain, an intense burst of unholy noise that nearly separated Garnet. The Old One fell backwards, flailing and writhing as a noxious green gas spewed from the injury. The Gems fell to the ground, with Garnet quickly making sure Steven and Lapis were alright. She began to run, feeling the ground beneath start to tremble. She glanced around, trying to find what had injured the creature until she saw Peridot standing to a cyclopean cathedral, the spire broken off and embedded in the monstrous Thing from the stars. The technician collapsed, weary from such a strong display of her ferrokinesis._ _ _

___Water began to rush through the streets, churning and rough. The city was sinking. Garnet ran to Peridot, throwing her over her shoulder before running furiously to the ocean. She could hear Cthulhu beginning to heal, slowly getting up._ _ _

___“Garnet! Over there!” Steven shouted, pointing to a small boat that was drawing closer. She chuckled grimly as she saw that Pearl was driving the vessel, finding a nugget of humor in this dire situation. Pearl had probably commandeered it from which ever poor humans she’d landed near. Garnet hurdled over to the boat, letting go of the three Gems she was carrying. As the boat turned sharply in the other direction, Garnet looked to see R’lyeh slowly sinking under the waves, Cthulhu letting of fearsome cries of protest. She let out a slow, steady stream of breath from her nose. Everything was going to be alright._ _ _

* * *

___As they drove towards the coast, boat glinting in the rising sun, Steven sat silently, watching the others attempting to recover._ _ _

___Amethyst had reformed, and had immediately gone to sit on the bow. She hadn’t said anything, just stared ahead with thoughtful eyes. Peridot and Lapis had fallen asleep, the younger Gem nestled tightly in the arms of the older one. Garnet had also been quiet, standing next to Pearl with her arms crossed. Pearl had attempted several times to strike up a conversation, but the fusion had just shook her head each time._ _ _

___Steven began to rub his gem, a habit he'd started doing when he was troubled. He felt like crying, screaming, yelling, just trying way to express the horror of what had just happened. The Crystal Gems had gone through hell and back. There’d be a point in the future when the team would need to address this collective trauma. It wouldn't be today. Today, Steven was going to hug his dad and Connie, just to show them how much he appreciated them. Today, Steven would go to Funland, to enjoy his youth while it lasted. Right now, however, Steven just needed some rest._ _ _

**Author's Note:**

> This is a bit of a mess. Sorry. Also had to change some of the Lovecraftian mythos, so also sorry to hardcore fans. Leave any questions or critiques in the comments.


End file.
